The pros and cons of a smart meter

Should you get a smart meter installed in your home?

Over 10 million homes in the UK are now fitted with a smart meter, replacing the analogue gas and electricity meters. The government has targeted utility companies with offering all homes a smart meter by so they&#;re currently approaching customers and offering them one for free but, at the moment, the scheme is optional so you can choose to decline.

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Opinion is divided on them so should you get one? We take an impartial look at the pros and cons of smart meters so you can make an informed choice.

What is a smart meter?

A smart meter records usage of gas and electricity just as an analogue meter does but because it is linked to your energy supplier via the mobile network, it shares data directly with them. It also provides you with more detailed usage data via a portable display unit that you can keep anywhere in the house.

The pros of smart meters

• No more meter readings. Smart meters connect to your utility company via a mobile network using a SIM card meaning that data is continually transmitted to them for billing purposes so no need for you to read the meter or for a meter reader to attend your home
• You receive more accurate bills. Because your bills will always be based on real time data they don&#;t rely on estimated readings which can lead to you being undercharged or overcharged, neither of which are desirable
• Access to data that can help you manage your usage better. A portable display unit allows you to see what energy you&#;re using which therefore enables you to modify your behaviour and use it more efficiently (seeing how much you&#;re using in monetary terms every time you boil the kettle will make you reconsider filling it up to the top every time!). Obviously, better efficiencies lead to lower bills
• Good for managing a prepaid meter. If you have a prepaid meter you can see easily how much credit you have and receive alerts when you&#;re running low
• With accurate data you can check your usage against national averages. This may well highlight that you have some kind of issue such as a boiler fault that's making you use too much energy. You can then take action to resolve it
• Currently the installation of smart meters is being offered for free, though the cost of this to energy providers will be factored into every customer&#;s bills. Therefore you are paying for a smart meter even if you don&#;t opt to have one

The cons of smart meters

• Most smart meters are not transferrable between energy providers. They will continue to measure usage and to provide the data to your portable display unit but they won&#;t feed the data through to your supplier if you swap, meaning that you would still need to provide meter readings. Therefore, if you are a savvy consumer who shops around every year it&#;s worth bearing this in mind
• You are sharing a lot of data. You may be happy with this, you may not. The data that the smart meter sends to your provider can allow them to form a very detailed picture of how you use energy. Some people may find this a little intrusive and it may give providers information that allows them to target you with advertising (though you can opt out of this)
• You can only reduce your bills if you actively use the data provided to change the way you do things. You will therefore need to put some effort in to implement efficiencies. If you&#;re not likely to do this, you&#;re not really getting the full benefit of having one. Also, the data can be difficult to interpret if you&#;re not familiar with it
• Data transfer is reliant on the mobile network so if you live in an area with a poor signal you may find it&#;s not as accurate as you might expect
• Once you have one you can&#;t revert back to an analogue meter. There&#;s no going back to an old style meter so you need to be pretty sure that it&#;s right for you
• Smart meters are still relatively new technology as is the installation of them. There were reports of issues arising from installations initially due to lack of experience and proper training. Now that they have been around a little longer this is less likely to happen but not impossible

Is a smart meter suitable for you?

That is really your choice, dependant on how you feel about all the considerations outlined above. If you like to be in control of things and are a fan of smart technology then it&#;s probably a good idea for you. If you like protect your privacy, you switch providers every year and you&#;re happy to continue providing your own readings then maybe think twice. For more information on smart meters, particularly with regard to underfloor heating, click here.

Do you have one? Do you find it useful? Are you not like the idea of one? We&#;d love to know what you think. Let us know over on our Facebook page.

With energy bills on the up again, smart meters could save you money on your gas and electricity. But should you get one?

Energy costs more than doubled at the height of the energy crisis in . While they have come down from these record highs, they still remain hundreds of pounds higher than they were in .

Most households are in line for a shock this autumn and winter, after bills soared 10% on 1 October due to a rise in wholesale prices. The Ofgem energy price cap could remain at a similar level in January. It means some of the fixed-rate deals currently on offer could be worth considering.

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Smart meters, which send readings at regular intervals to your supplier, can help you to closely track your energy usage and keep your costs down. But, do these meters really do what they say on the tin? If you currently have a regular meter, we've looked at whether you should make the switch.

The pros of smart meters

The first big benefit of a smart meter is that it could help make your bills more accurate. It will send readings to your supplier on a daily or half hourly basis, depending on what sort of deal you opt for.

For example, you will have to have half hourly readings if you wish to sign up for tariffs with off-peak rates - like EV tariffs - or want to take part in energy saving events. These tariffs/events could save you money.

Your smart meter will also save you from having to manually send meter readings to your supplier, as you would with a standard meter. If you don't send readings in on a regular basis (i.e. at least once a month), your supplier will estimate your bills. This could mean you end up paying more than you have to.

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Another useful benefit of smart meters is the in-house display you'll get alongside your smart meter. This small monitor will show you your energy use to the penny.

The gadget can help you to figure out how much energy you use when you turn on certain appliances, and which habits and chores are costing you the most. It means you can adjust your usage to cut your bills.

Shifting your energy use may also allow you to be greener. During off-peak hours (typically weekends, working hours and overnight), the national grid tends to rely more on renewable energy production. Meanwhile, peak times usually see a larger reliance on fossil fuels - especially during the winter.

Finally, when it comes to switching, a smart meter can make life easier. It means you won't have to submit a final reading to your old supplier &#; although, it's always worth making a note in case something goes wrong with the automatic readings.

And, when significant alterations to the Ofgem energy price cap occur, you won't have to send readings in ahead of the changes to unit rates. It is still good practice to do so, as it will ensure you do not pay over the odds for your energy.

The cons of smart meters

The government had been aiming to offer a smart meter to every home by mid-. However, figures released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) on 29 August showed 36% of homes were still yet to have one fitted by the end of June .

With the rate of domestic installations in Q2 falling 11% quarter-on-quarter, and 15% year-on-year to 663,200, it suggests it may be getting harder to get an installation booked in.

That's not to say all homes want one fitted. Many people have refused over concerns about the amount of insight this gives energy suppliers. There have also been concerns around smart meters being targeted by hackers. But there is no evidence that this has happened.

For households with a smart meter, the biggest issue comes when the meter malfunctions. According to government data, 4.3 million smart meters weren't working properly by March . This was up from the three million malfunctioning devices recorded the previous year. However, data from MoneySavingExpert suggests this could be an underestimate.

Common issues included suppliers not receiving readings, the meters not displaying information to consumers, or both. Some have not been working because they haven't been commissioned properly at the point of installation.

Many of the other meters had malfunctioned because they were first generation smart meters (known in the industry as SMETS1), and therefore couldn't connect properly to the centralised infrastructure suppliers use to get readings. If you have a first generation meter, you will need to get a new one installed.

The situation has led MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis to write to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in a bid to get him to change course on the government's smart meter rollout targets. The campaigner said he wanted to more resources given over to repairs instead of installations.

He wrote: "Shifting the target to 'working' smart meters could help give firms some wiggle room to get people back 'online', and in the long run, the hopefully improved word of mouth will lead more smart-meter-sceptics to decide they want to give it a go."

The pros of traditional meters

Many people choose to remain on traditional meters. This could be because they want to control the information they hand over to their energy supplier.

It could also be down to the type of meter you have. For example, economy 7 and economy 10 meters have cheaper rates than standard meters, if you live in a single fuel household. Suppliers no longer fit these meters, and only a few offer tariffs for them.

If your meter is accessible and you're willing to submit readings every month, then it there will be no extra expense than if you had a smart meter (although you won't get the same insights into your usage).

The cons of a traditional meter

Of course, the flipside is that if your meter is quite hard to get to, you may not be able to submit readings to your supplier. In this instance, you may end up being charged extra for your usage, as your supplier will have to go off estimates rather than your actual usage data.

You can get your money back if you can show you've overpaid. But it may take weeks or even months for the compensation to come through. Having estimated bills could also lead to you underpaying, which might result in a hefty future bill.

Should I go for a smart meter?

Smart meters might not be guaranteed to work seamlessly, but they do mean you're more likely than not to get access to some of the cheapest deals on the energy market. You will often find suppliers stipulating that you have to have one to access certain favourable tariffs.

For example, if you have enough flexibility to be able to shift your energy use to off-peak times of the day, you could reduce your bills. But the type of energy deal that allows you to access these cheaper rates requires a smart meter because it tracks wholesale prices on a half-hourly basis.

So, from a price perspective, it makes sense to opt for a smart meter. However, they may not be easy to install in certain homes - especially older properties. If you live in such a household, it may be best to stick with your existing meter.

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